Members of Toronto’s compliance audit committee voted unanimously to push ahead with the prosecution of Mammoliti in the wake of an audit that determined he exceeded his 2010 election campaign spending limit by $12,065 — or 44% — and several other possible violations of the Municipal Elections Act.

It will now be up to a special prosecutor to determine whether to proceed with charges. If found guilty, Mammoliti could be fined or even kicked out of office.

Monday’s decision was made by the same compliance audit committee that will mull Mayor Rob Ford’s fate on Feb. 25. An audit of Ford’s finances released last Friday found he allegedly exceeded the mayoral campaign spending limit by $40,000 — or 3% — along with several other election act violations.

After Monday’s vote by the three-member citizen committee, a subdued Mammoliti said he would consult his lawyers before deciding his next move.

“My gut instinct as it always has been is I need to defend myself and that’s what I’d like to do,” Mammoliti said. “I am in a position where I have to defend myself and defend my integrity and that’s what people are after.”

Mammoliti’s eyes welled up with tears as he reflected on his mounting legal costs.

“I can honestly tell this city that it is going to take 20 years to pay this off,” he said.

The York West (Ward 7) councillor insisted the committee made the wrong decision.

“I’d suggest that this particular case isn’t what the legislation was drafted out to go to court for,” he said.

Resident David DePoe — who filed the original complaint against Mammoliti — said he was “really pleased” with the committee’s decision.

“I’m happy that it is being referred to a court,” he said. “I think the auditor’s report was really credible to me. I even think it was a little conservative.”

“It puts Mr. Mammoliti and any candidate for office in a position of being exposed to prosecution despite retaining the best possible accounting advice that you can get,” he said.

Lawyer Morris Manning, who was also representing Mammoliti, called the process “unfair.”

“Just looking at the process … if anybody wants to run for municipal politics in the province of Ontario, you’ve got to retain a full-time auditor at whatever the expense is for the entirety of the campaign,” Manning said. “That can’t be the standard, that can’t be right.”

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Committee votes to prosecute Giorgio Mammoliti over campaign spending

Legal proceedings were launched Monday against Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti over his alleged breach of campaign finance rules.
Members of Toronto’s compliance audit committee voted unanimously to push ahead with the prosecution of Mammoliti in the wake of an audit that determined he exceeded his 2010 election campaign spending limit by $12,065 — or 44% — and several other possible violations of the Municipal Elections Act.
It will now be up to a special prosecutor to determine whether to proceed with charges. If found guilty, Mammoliti could be fined or even kicked out of office.